May 31, 2012

Here's a bit of interesting insight into the behind the scenes process of making The Dark Knight Rises as screenwriter David S. Goyer talks to Empire via BatmanNews. David reveals that studio executives at Warner Bros. were already talking about a sequel at The Dark Knight premiere. The studio wanted Leonardo DiCaprio play a Nolanized version of The Riddler in the next film. Of course this didn't happen but it's another fun "what-if?" moment from the franchise.

“it’s gonna be The Riddler, and we want it to be Leonardo DiCaprio…”.

It confirms previous reports that Inception co-stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy and DiCaprio had been competing for the Riddler. Not to mention strings of casting rumors linked to the role. Nolan might have tried to fit him into early drafts only to give him the axe and make way for Bane. In the early days of Rises' development Michael Caine and Gary Oldman had teased on red carpets the Riddler would be the villain which might have come from studio people not Nolan.

You never know what the future of Batman holds. If Nolanites want this franchise to keep going it would be in good hands with someone like Wally Pfister taking over directing duties from Nolan. Bale has stated that if Nolan handed him a script he'd love to make another film just for the challenge. I'd love to see Jonah and Chris stay on as writers while continuing to work on their original projects as well.

Steve McQueen's (Hunger, Shame) 12 Years A Slave is quickly gathering one impressive cast as ShowBlitz reports Benedict Cumberbatch has landed a role. The rest of the cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Scott McNairy, Taran Killam, Ruth Negga, and Adepero Oduye. The film is based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup, a free black man who, in 1841, was captured by men that sold him into slavery, and was only freed after earning the attention of a Canadian carpenter.

Vulture reports on some story details about The Wachowskis next film Jupiter Ascending. I won't post them (possible spoilers) because they could be completely false or a misdirection but feel free to click on the link to see for yourselves. The science fiction film will star Mila Kunis (Black Swan) and Channing Tatum (Bitter Pill, Magic Mike, Haywire) along with an offering going out to Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Joe is quickly gathering some impressive sci-fi credits with Inception and Looper not to mention a decent sized role in The Dark Knight Rises.

Deadline reports that Universal is close to making deals to see cast members Aaron Johnson, Chloë Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage (in a cameo) return for Kick-Ass 2. Jeff Wadlow would be directing the film this summer while Matthew Vaughn would stay on as a producer. Vaughn is currently prepping for the next X-Men film which will shoot early next year. It's expected Kick-Ass 2 will get a Spring 2013 release date.

Deadline has word that Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is currently in talks with Dreamworks to direct their thriller Button Man: The Killing Game which is based on a graphic novel. The project has a script from screenwriter Hilary Seitz who wrote Christopher Nolan's serial killer thriller Insomnia. Giving the impression it could be ready to go into production this year. Nicolas just wrapped production on his next film Only God Forgives and seemingly won't be making Logan's Run anytime soon since plans for that production start haven't been made.

The action revolves around Harry Exton, a hired gun who’s offered a fortune to take part in a game organized by bored millionaires that sets trained killers against one another in a fight to the death. The fat cats bet on the proceedings, and when Exton gets disgusted and opts out, his only exit strategy might be to off the millionaires funding the competition.

ProductionWeekly had reported a rumor that Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks for Harry Exton. EW would later debunk the rumor and DiCaprio is not even involved. I wouldn't be shocked to see Ryan Gosling or Mads Mikkelsen step up to the plate here. Then again DiCaprio has been attracted to projects mainly because of the directors involved, so you never know if he'd turn down an offer if Nicolas was directing it.

Fox has also given the untitled X-Men First Class sequel an official release date of July 18th 2014. Visionary writer/director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Layer Cake) will be returning along with writing partner Jane Goldman (Woman In Black). Currently the only know cast members that are returning include Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up titled X-Men: The Brotherhood as the sequel is rumored to be focused on Magneto's formation of his own team the Brotherhood of Mutants. Along with Magneto's balancing act as anti-hero/not quite villain. Xavier is also now dealing with the loss of his legs and will likely recurit new members to the X-Men. There's no word on if staple characters like Gambit, Cyclops or Jean will be joining the sequel.

20th Century Fox has announced the release date for the sequel to Rise of The Planet of The Apes titled Dawn of The Planet of The Apes. The film is set for a May 23rd 2014 release date with Andy Serkis returning as Caesar along with director Rupert Wyatt. Details on the sequel haven't been made official but the film likely will focus on the new ape society becoming the dominate species while the human population is wiped out by a deadly virus.

Kevin Feige has been somewhat coy about the second phase of the Marvel's release slate. We know that on May 2014 the studio plans to release an unannounced project on that date. It had been thought that Ant-Man or Guardians of The Galaxy would be prime candidates. Until Edgar Wright announced that he'd would be starting production on World's End this fall and could possibly shoot some of Ant-Man (likely green-screen scenes or a sizzle reel for Comic-Con) sometime during 2012 as well. This doesn't mean that Ant-Man would even be ready to released for 2014 considering the amount of special effects needed for the film. New word from Marvel gives the impression that Guardians is also out of the running.

A new quote from Fegie during an interview with Empire seemingly excludes Ant-Man, Black Panther and even Guardians of The Galaxy for the second 2014 slot. Kevin states that they will be introducing "a character outside of the Avengers' world". This gives the impression the first two are out as they're both Avengers. While the latter is a team film similar to the Avengers in that it would include multiple heroes, not one single "character". It leads me to believe that Kevin Feige is hinting to the mystical fantasy film Doctor Strange. There is another C-level character like Strange that could be a possibility as well which is The Immortal Iron Fist which will be a pulpy martial arts/shoot em' up flick.

"Our next step," said Feige, "will be to introduce a character outside the Avengers' world."

DOCTOR STRANGE:The first thought is Doctor Strange as they already have a script complete with the studio shopping it around to directors back in August. It's unknown which version of the character they'd be aiming to make since they have a few different takes. Steven Strange is famous surgeon who searches for a new calling when his sister dies. It leads him to an ancient order that teaches him the mystical arts leading him to become the Sorcerer Supreme. It could be a mystical period piece set in the 30's or just a straight up contemporary. His powers vary but could be somewhat limited in the first film since it would be an origin film with Strange learning the magic ropes. The cosmic universe has been explored with Thor and Avengers so it wouldn't be a stretch to see this character fit into the Marvel cinematic universe. While Kevin states the character won't have connections to Avengers it wouldn't stop them from introducing an Avenger like Scarlet Witch as a villain or supporting character.

IRON FIST: A project less likely is Iron Fist which hasn't been in development as long as Strange but had a script from Rich Wilkes. We haven't heard much on it but like Strange this character isn't a prominent Avenger and like Iron Man (before the original film's release) was basically a niche character. Ed Brubaker (known for the modern Captain America) reinvented the characters' mythology with The Immortal Iron Fist which gave an edge to both Danny Rand and Orson Randall. I could see how a martial arts/shoot em' up film with Highlander elements would be completely different from what they've already done.

HeatVision reports New Regency is finally moving forward with the Fraggle Rock film, likely due to the success of the recent Muppets movie. The musical puppet show from the Henson Company focuses on group of young cave dwelling creatures. Writers Jim Byrkit and Alex Manugian have been hired to develop a screenplay. Byrkit was given story credit for Rango which won Best Animated Feature at the 2012 Oscars. Let's just hope they stick to puppets and don't cheapen out with CGI.

ShowBlitz reports that British actress Gemma Arterton (Disappearance of Alice Creed, RockNRolla) joins gambling thriller Runner Runner which stars Justin Timberlake (Social Network), Ben Affleck (The Town, Argo) and Anthony Mackie (Hurt Locker). The film is from the writers of the amazing gambling 90's flick Rounders which starred Matt Damon and Edward Norton. Timberlake plays a Princeton student cheated out of his tuition money playing online poker who ends up the right-hand man of the site's corrupt boss (Affleck). Arterton plays Timberlake's love interest. Arterton had been recently linked to Iron Man 3 as a possible addition to the cast until Rebecca Hall was locked in.

Variety has picked up details on Eli Roth's Green Inferno which will be his return to horror. The film will be cannibal film influenced by the Italian sub-genre that included films such as Cannibal Holocaust and Green Inferno (fake sequel to Cannibal H.). Roth wrote the film with Guillermo Amoedo the pair worked together on the earthquake thriller Aftershock. It's the first time Roth has pulled a Tarantino concerning his titles and should have as much gore if not more than his previous xenophobic flicks Hostel 1-2. No word if it would be set in the 70's or 80's but it would be a little more visually interesting if it was.

The film on a group of "naïve do-gooders" who survive a terrible plane crash in the midst of the Peruvian jungle only to be the prey of a batch of man-eating tribesmen.

ComingSoon has got ahold of the first real set images from the Iron Man 3 production. Oddly, enough it's one of the villains likely before he turns as James Badge Dale (Coldblood) is donning the Iron Patriot armor which was originally built/worn by Norman Osborn in the Dark Avengers comics. It will be interesting to see how many of these suits that the government makes before Extremis comes into play. This one looks like a copy of the War Machine armor.

It's been a steady stream of crazy speculation when it comes to what the hell is going on with the Star Trek sequel. Most importantly the film doesn't even have an official title which would likely give away a lot of it's direction. Any who, what we do know for sure is that Benedict Cumberbatch is playing the villain. It's been rumored since day one he would be in the role of Trek baddie superhuman Khan but what happens if he's not?

Simon Pegg has come out to again confirm that Cumberbatch won't be playing Khan via TrekMovie. The only real detail here is that Pegg confirms that Cumberbatch is human. It's possible that the Khan rumor development when the thought of a series villain or human would be the villain of the sequel. So if Khan isn't on the table it doesn't leave a lot of room for human villains. Harry Mudd and Charlie Evans seem unlikely because Benedict is clearly wearing Federation gear in the set images that have leaked. There aren't a lot of Federation based villains but one does come to mind and would become a large conflict for Kirk and the crew.

Pegg is full of praise for Cumberbatch’s baddy, whom he describes [as] “not just another disgruntled alien. It’s a really interesting… sort of… thing,” he squirms. “Obviously I can’t talk about it.”

Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell and Kirk become friends at Starfleet Academy and Gary ends up on the Enterprise. During this time Kirk is still on his way to become the captain which would fall inline with rumors of Peter Weller (Robocop) playing the new Enterprise captain. Gary ends up developing alien superpowers and turns on the crew. It's a solid enough conflict as Gary would become an enemy from within the Enterprise.

If this is true it would mean that Alice Eve's character could be the ship's psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. Eve's haircut for the film is very similar to the actress from the original series. Dehner was featured in the episode with Mitchell and could end up a new addition to the Enterprise crew since they clearly lacking another female character.

Prometheus is set to be released next Friday and we're already hearing positive talk from the first screenings. Currently it's one of the more anticipate films of the year and should bring in some decent box office numbers with it's 3D ticket price boost. Originally the project had been envisioned by Ridley Scott and writer John Spaihts (who has been talking sequel during recent interviews) as a two-part Alien prequel. When Damon Lindelof signed on to join the writing process this talk was squashed. Fox went so far as to state the film was no longer a Alien prequel. We know for a fact that was just spin as the alien ship, space jockey and possibly the xenomorph/egg chamber will be revealed in Prometheus. Ridley has already started talking about another film and wants to make it after the Counselor even with Blade Runner 2 in the works. So what would happen in Prometheus 2 if Fox pursues a sequel?

WEYLAND COLONIZES PROTEUS (XENOMORPH PLANET): While Prometheus answers questions to Alien, a second film could explore what we didn't see in Aliens. Mainly, the massive horde of aliens wiping out the colonists from Hadley's Hope. Along with what would a massive xenomorph outbreak would look like. The Weyland Industries viral site has been going into a lot of detail of the world-building/terraforming aspects of the company. Prometheus will be more about the discovery of our origins and exploring the unknown rather than creating an empire spanning the universe. The sequel should take on the themes of colonizing the universe. It could also allow surviving cast members from the first film to possibly be involved such as David, Vickers or even Shaw. Weyland's Colonial Marines should also play a large role here as it gives Ridley a chance to play with the war mongering themes of the franchise. As the xenomorphs are wanted for the company's weapons program which could lead to military experiments on Proteus spearheaded by Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce).

Proteus also known as Xenomorph Prime has been established as the home planet of the aliens. The xenomorph homeworld is a hostile planet much like LV-426, it boasts a cold and harsh climate that is rife with volcanoes and turbulent wind storms. According to one theory, the planet is not the actual source of the xenomorph species, but was used as a storage house by the Space Jockeys to contain and breed them. Weaver/Ridley had mentioned this planet as a possible setting for Alien 5 before the project was axed and Prometheus went into development.

One theory has it that the Space Jockeys were the original victims of the xenomorphs. Another has it that they were in fact their creators. The second theory is far more detailed and shows up in various sources. Apparently, the Space Jockeys (or Mala’kak) bred the xenomorphs for use a civil war that was raging millions of years ago. This would certainly explain why the xenomorphs are so hostile, so adaptive, and proliferate so quickly. Ultimately, the xenomorphs turned on their creators and caused their extinction, and live on as weapons leftover from a forgotten war. It's possible the Jockeys in Prometheus intend to use this weapon (the ship filled with xenomorph eggs) against Earth because humans have become too advanced of a species and are now a threat to the universe.

LatinoReview is confirming that Ben Kingsley is indeed playing The Mandarin (Gene Khan?) in Iron Man 3. However, he won't be the main villain of the film which will be scientist Aldrich Killian played by Guy Pearce (Memento, Lockout, Hurt Locker, Lawless, Prometheus). Mandarin will be more of a silent partner to Killian who develops the Extremis virus and creates a group of his own Extremis soldiers. It's very possible that Eric Savin/Coldblood (James Badge Dale) and Jack Taggert/Firepower (Ashely Hamilton) will be apart of this army and they will be greatly changed from their original incarnations in the comics.

LatinoReview has a decent enough track record with the Marvel exclusives, as they previously reported that Loki was going to be the villain of Avengers before it was announced. Seemingly this confirms that Marvel is combining Extremis and Armor Wars. It's possible they are moving slowly with amount of The Mandarin to leave room to use him as a main villain in Iron Man 4 or even Avengers 2. Marvel might be hopeful to get a couple more Iron Man films out of Robert Downey Jr. so they're holding back on a few villains (popular ones like Ghost and Whitney Frost). I wouldn't be surprised to see Crimson Dynamo (another version), Kearson DeWitt, Titanium Man and Cobalt included in Killian's Extremis army.

We've been hearing lots of talk that Ben Kingsley is playing the villain The Mandarin in Iron Man 3. When it was first revealed Kingsley was in talks for the film it was immediately denied he was playing Stark's most recognizable baddie. Even when asked about his involvement during a red carpet event for The Dictator, Ben had no idea who his character was. Sources from Hong Kong and Singapore have been listing Kingsley as the Mandarin. It would make sense that Marvel's Chinese production partners could be less tight-lipped about the Iron Man 3 than Marvel and have been talking to the press to promote the movie. There is talk via ComicBookMovie coming from the set that Ben is indeed playing the ringed villain and will have twin henchmen who do most of his dirty work.

If Kingsley is playing The Mandarin he won't be straight out of the original comics. John Favreau had wanted to use him as the villain in Iron Man 2 but that was ultimately rejected by Marvel. He still held out hope that he'd be able to include him in the third film before he was replaced. Shane Black has stated that the villain was racist and had no plans to include him. However, they could always just use the name and completely change the character to fit the Extremis plot. It's possible he could make him a leader of the terrorist group Ten Rings which itself is a tease to the ten power rings Mandarin uses as weapons. Rings has been active in both of films, in the second they arranged Vanko's passport to get him to Monaco to face off with Stark on the race track.

A bulk of the production will be shooting in China (will be the setting for some of the film) which also gives the impression that he'll be involved. Yet, it's been reported by a Hong Kong paper that Mandarin won't have a Chinese background not insult the Asian audience. Marvel would also be including heroic Chinese characters including one played by Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) as a scientist friend of Tony. In Extremis, Mandarin plots to unleash the virus on the world population to even the playing-field. There are already two other villains (Coldblood/Firepower) in the film so it wouldn't hurt to see him without a suit/powers at least in this film.

May 29, 2012

Christopher Nolan has stated The Dark Knight Rises will be his last Batman film but will be the last one for Christian Bale? Bale gives the impression to Empire that he's keeping an open mind on coming back if the right elements are in place. Those just happen to be a great script which would likely have to come from the Nolan camp.

"My understanding is that this is the last one. I think it's appropriate, I think it's going out at the right time. But...if Chris came to me with a script and said, 'You know what? There is another story' then I would love the challenge of making a fourth one work."

While Christopher is indeed stepping away from the director's chair he never said he'd stop writing the films with his brother Jonathan. If Nolan hand-picks the new director it could be worth making if the same team minus Chris came back. It's very rare that a third installment in a franchise eclipses the first two films is if does there will be a massive demand from audiences and Warner Bros. for one movie. Bale is right, it would be a rather large uphill battle to make a fourth film just as good or even better.

May 28, 2012

The Cornetto Trilogy is finally coming to end with Edgar Wright's World's End headed to theaters next spring. We recently got a synopsis which is as follow: 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

While vomit seems to cover the "green" aspect of the film we had expected aliens to be the main baddies. The plot rundown never really explores the apparent sci-fi elements until now. Edgar's recent statement to Empire reveals the film will be apart of a sub-genre called social sci-fi. Some of the books included on Wiki are Brave New World, 1984 and The Time Machine. Wright is also directing fans to possible influences by naming authors John Christopher and John Wydnham, who were know for The Tripod novels and The Day Of The Triffids.

"Hard to say…It’s a sci-fi comedy. Social science-fiction. Look it up on Wikipedia and then bone up on John Christopher and John Wyndham."

Social science fiction is a term used to describe a subgenre of science fiction concerned less with technology and space opera and more with sociological speculation about human society. In other words, it “absorbs and discusses anthropology”, and speculates about human behavior and interactions.

John Chistopher's Tripod trilogy ended up a BBC series featuring invading aliens in the future. While John Wyndham's The Day of The Triffids (Sam Raimi is looking to remake it) focused on man-eating plants while the population goes blind after a meteor shower. It had a couple of films along with it's own short-lived BBC series in 1981. It seems like Wright plans to combine the books into his own story with aliens trying to bring about the end of humankind. Seemingly this is the most personal and inside of the three films as many would have had to grown up with these shows to even get the references. While Shaun of The Dead was a shout-out to George A. Romeo's "of The Dead" trilogy (Dead, Dawn, Day) with Hot Fuzz an homage to Lethal Weapon and cop actioners.

A key bridge between Shaun of The Dead (Shaun's mum's birthday flowers) and Hot Fuzz (Angel's Japanese Peace Lily) besides pubs has been flowers and references to gardening which could have been teasing World's End the entire time. The Triddids are flesh-eating plants and could come into play as gardening is a massive staple of British culture. Perhaps, the aliens are unknowingly planted in gardens during this epic pub crawl and slowly the town folk are either replaced with aliens (ala Invasion of The Body Snatchers) or become a new food source.

It's starting to sound like the villain of Thor 2 is going to be a one of the big ones from Thor's limited rouges gallery. As Chris Hemsworth put down talk of Thanos being the baddie of the film stating they needed "a bigger fish". Kevin Feige has confirmed this by axing the Thanos rumor again stating he'll be a "future" villain giving the impression that he'll be saved for Avengers 2 or Guardians of Galaxy. Feige also mentions the villain of the Thor sequel will indeed be a "major new antagonist". Giving the impression that Loki, Skurge, Ulik and other supporting villains are not going to be the main threat of the picture. The only "major" unused Thor villains are Hela, Surtur and Malekith. Consideirng that Mads Mikkelsen is linked for this role it's likely down to Malekith and Surtur, which both would be excellent cinematic villains.

Marvel's Kevin Feige spoke to Empire about the upcoming production of Thor 2. He confirms what Chris Hemsworth had been saying about the new facelift to Asgard along with commenting on the rumors of Thanos being the main baddie of the sequel. Kevin states they have a "majaor new antagonist" for the film who will likely be played by the rumored addition Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale). Thanos could be saved for a future film, perhaps Guardians of The Galaxy or Avengers 2.

"We're going to see the other side of Asgard. It's not all polished and golden in this film. And the events of Avengers will have affected Thor for sure. His relationship with Loki will continue to evolve, and the biggest part is Natalie and Thor returning with Jane Foster."

"No, future, future. But there will be a major new villain. A major, major new antagonist..."

There is very little that we know about this sequel to Blade Runner. What we do know is that originally Ridley and writer Hampton Fancher envisioned Blade Runner as the first of series of films exploring the themes of Dick's original short story. Runner bombed at the box office when it was released so the sequels never happened. Since then it has become one of the biggest cult films of all-time. Hampton is in talks to write the sequel with Ridley Scott back as the director. The film is still a couple of years away with Ridley about to start shooting The Counselor with a Prometheus sequel waiting in the wings to go afterwards. It will be set years after the first movie with a female character as the lead not Deckard.

When rumors of Harrison Ford returning as Deckard starting circling the producers of the film killed the rumor quickly. Now there is word from Ridley himself from an interview with TheIndependent stating that Ford could show up. This doesn't mean it's for sure or even that he'll play Deckard but it's interesting none the less.

"I don't think it'll be Harrison [starring]. But I've got to have him in it somewhere. That'd be amusing,"

May 26, 2012

ThePlaylist has picked up on a possible rumor that says Michael Fassbender has been spotted on the set of Django Unchained. We recently heard that the anticipated teaser for Django would be attached to Fassbender's film Prometheus. Harvey Weinstein previously stated that Tarantino fans should expect more additions to the cast and possible surprise cameos. Is Fassbender going to have one of these special cameos?

Fassbender essentially was thrown into the mainstream after his pivotal role in Inglourious Basterds. He is currently shooting Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave, which just so happens has a similar setting/theme. Apparently, both films are shooting in the Louisiana area which could make it simple for Michael to jump onto the Django set to read a couple of lines. It's possible that he came in as a favor to Quentin when three actors backed out of the project. Fassy could end up playing Ace Woody (unlikely/Kurt Russell), Scotty (Sacha Baron Cohen) or even the Aussie hick brother originally set for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Or, in true Tarantino fashion a new role has been created on the fly.

We won't have to wait long to finally see some Django Unchained footage. As Variety reports the first trailer for Django will be attached to Prometheus starting on June 8th. Now you really don't have an excuse to miss Prometheus. This has to be a no-brainer as the two films are arguably the most anticipated R-rated films of 2012 and match a made in heaven. I'll be curious to see how they cut up trailer from the seven minute sizzle-reel shown at Cannes. The Weinstien Company isn't taking any chances and going full force with the early marketing campaign. Cudos to Quentin for releasing a trailer so early in the game as the film will likely be close to being wrapped when the trailer drops. If you can wait a bit longer the Django trailer will likely be hitting the Apple iTunes trailer site in HD soon after.

LatinoReview seems to have a spy on the set of Iron Man 3 as they have a few updates on the production. First, the villains Coldblood (Badge Dale), Mandarin (Kingsley) and Firepower (Hamilton) won't be in robo-cop or armored suits. Giving the impression that the Extremis virus is indeed going to be involved here. They also claim Die Hard 2 villain and character actor William Sadler was spotted on set. Salder hasn't been reported by the trades so it could be just a cameo. His other roles include The Mist, Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, HBO's The Pacific and Eagle Eye.